Week 14

Wonderopolis Website
Shared with Kinder and 2nd Grade
Targeted Skills: Purposes and examples of different kinds of media

At the beginning of last summer I had the privilege of attending a workshop presented by Donalyn Miller--Book Whisperer Extraordinaire. She told us about a website called Wonderopolis, and I have been waiting for the perfect time to introduce it to my students. This was Wonderopolis week!

We focused on the Wonder from last December 25 entitled "Where Do Candy Canes Get Their Shape?" I wanted a Christmas themed topic, and since it's a new Wonder every day, you can search the site to explore past topics. Since the students were focusing on media that they see (read), watch, and hear, we watched the video on how candy canes are made at Disney Land (of course, they are made magically). This was a great review of a "procedural text" or "how to make stuff" from last week. The articles on Wonderopolis are very through, so I summarized some to the facts about candy canes that were included  (I glazed over the religious context since I teach in a public school).  During checkout time, we listened to Christmas music on Pandora and talked about how this is an example of media that we hear. 
 
The teachers on my campus were so excited to learn about Wonderopolis because it is a great example of interesting expository text. Make sure you click on the different tabs on top of the main article to go deeper into the topic: "Try it out," "Wonder Words" (GREAT for vocabulary development), "Still Wondering?", and "Wonder What's Next?" I especially love the "Wonder What's Next" tab because it gives a hint for the next day's Wonder. It would be a fun way to work on predicting.  Wonderopolis ROCKS, and I will definitely be using it more in the library. It was a perfect way to introduce that all research begins with a wonder.

Lesson Frame:

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas by Melanie Watt
Read to: 1st Grade
Targeted Skills: Characteristics of a functional text; Differences between fiction and nonfiction

This might seem like a stretch for an example functional text, but it really works perfectly. I had to find a way to work the newest Scaredy into my holiday book rotation because my kids are HUGE fans of this OCD Squirrel. 

We first reviewed the characteristics of a functional text that they had learned in their classroom. I shared the book under the Elmo because Scaredy books need to be SEEN as well as heard. I did not read the entire book because it is long, and I had to talk through it and point out things in the pictures because this does not follow a narrative structure. But it is a PERFECT example of a functional text (lists, diagrams, maps, signs, survival tips, directions)--for a squirrel who easily gets stressed out. The kids were able to make the distinction that this book is fiction. We then talked about how we could make it nonfiction by making it about humans rather than a squirrel. I made the suggestion to the teachers to have the kids work on their own "Survival Guides" to give to their parents since adults (and squirrels) seem to get WAY MORE stressed out about the holidays than children do.  

Lesson Frame:

 

Postcards from Camp by Simms Taback

Read to: 3rd and 4th Grade

Targeted Skills: Summarize the plot; Questioning; Making Inferences; Author's Purpose

This is one of the COOLEST books that I have seen in a long time, and the kids LOVED it. As one of the Texas Bluebonnet selections for 2012, I am projecting this one as the winner at my school. But we will have to wait for the vote in January. This book must be read under the Elmo so that the kids can see the actual postcards and letters. 

The premise of the story is simple, but it's fun for the kids to predict what the card will be about based on the front and also what will the father's response be. Will he give in and come pick up his miserable camper son? The theme of this book is also wonderful for kids to realize. After we finished, I asked the kids WHY did the author write the book this way? Why did he include the actual pieces of mail rather than just tell us the story? "Because it just makes it WAY COOLER like this, Mrs. Bailey!!" I agree. Totes.  

Lesson Frame:

Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog by Adrienne Sylver

Read to: 6th Grade 

Targeted Skills: Compare the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction; main idea and supporting details

Please see my Week 8 post about this lesson. 

Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey

Shared with 5th Grade via the Bluebonnet Blog

In order to get at least 5 Bluebonnet books read to all of my 3rd--6th graders, I rely on the help of my wonderful teachers. I am trying something new this year. I started a Shaw Bluebonnet blog to make the lessons more intentional and aligned with the curriculum. Therefore, I am not just thrusting a book into the teacher's hands and saying, "Please read this!"  I am looking at the curriculum and giving the book to the teacher when if fits their focus for the week. I have included questions on the blog for them to follow so that teachers can read the book when it is convenient for them and hopefully have a meaningful lesson. I want to make it as easy and helpful as possible for them because they have so much on their plates right now. Since the 5th graders were concentrating on literary nonfiction, this book fits. I will have the 5th graders in to read to them in person after the holiday break.

 

Week 13

Wonder by RJ Palacio
Suggested Read Aloud for 4th, 5th, & 6th Grade Classes
Targeted Skills: EVERY human needs to read this because reading in school should not just be about skills. Reading can make us better people.

Ever since I first read Wonder back in the summer, I have been on a personal mission to tell everyone that I know to read this book.  It reminds me so much of Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper, which is a book extremely close to my heart.

In typical librarian fashion, I pushed this book into the hands of my upper grade teachers at the beginning of the school year. Two classes have finished reading it (4th & 5th). Three more are currently reading, and I have several who want to start it after the holidays (Mission accomplished!). My teachers have said that they are able to teach so many of the reading skills through this book, so it is not just a "fun" read aloud--it can be tied to instruction, as well.

 I had the privilege of going into the classrooms of the 4th and 5th grade classes who have finished it to have a discussion about this gem of a book. I was so excited to go on their "turf" rather than have them come into the library so that I could relive my days discussing great books in a classroom setting. My students did not disappoint. The discussions with each class were insightful, and I could truly tell that they took the theme of Wonder to heart. We discussed how we can take the book's message (Be kinder than necessary to ALL people) and apply it to our own school. I made pledge cards for each child to sign. I brought black Sharpies, and we discussed that signing our names to this pledge was very serious. The pledge card reads, "I pledge to end bullying in my community, and in my daily life, to be a little kinder than necessary." (Click here to get a version of the pledge. I tweaked it for each kid to sign.)After the holidays, my plan is to make a "Wonder Wall" and display the pledge cards. I hope this generates interest in not just reading Wonder, but in making our school and community kinder because of it.

If you are a classroom teacher reading this blog, please read this book to your students. If you are a librarian, read this book for yourself (if you haven't already), and do that librarian book pusher thing. If you are a human being reading this blog, then read this book. It's not just for kids. It should be required reading for all of humanity.

Wonderful Wonder Resources: 

Wonder Read Aloud Resources--Perfect visual guide to use as a companion while reading aloud
Choose Kind Tumblr--Includes the "Choose Kind" pledge
Wonder Schools--Make reading Wonder a school-wide initiative

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Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming
Read to: 4th Grade 
Targeted Skills: Review Literary Skills of Character, Conflict, and Theme

I read this book to 3rd grade last week, so please see my post in Week 12 about this lesson.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
Read to: 3rd Grade
Targeted Skills: Review of Plot Elements (sequencing) and Compare and Contrast with the movie version

Ironically, this book was first a movie, which won a 2011 Oscar for best animated short film. I shared the movie with my students last year because it provides a rich, in-depth discussion for the power of books in our lives. (Fabulous for discussing digital media literacy). Of course, we had to read the book version this year. Honestly, I enjoyed the movie more (when does THAT ever happen?), but the book is wonderful, too--just not as magical as the movie version. I read the book in the library, and then the teachers showed the 15 minute clip in the classroom to compare and contrast. Well-worth the time! 

 Lesson Frame

How to Teach a Slug to Read
by Susan Pearson
Read to: 2nd Grade
Targeted Skills: Characteristics of Expository Text; Characteristics of Procedural Texts

I read this to Kinder and 1st Grade last week, so please see my Week 12 lesson post for more details. 

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Read to Kinder & 1st Grade
Targeted Skills:What makes this book fiction? Look for elements of character, plot, and style; Follow steps of how to draw the pigeon (use app)

I read these books to 2nd grade during week 11, so please see my post about that lesson. However, I only read Duckling this week, and we drew the pigeon using the app. So fun! The kids loved it and could easily determine the "procedure" words that Mo Willems uses. 

 
 

Week 12

How to Teach a Slug to Read
by Susan Pearson
Read to Kinder & 1st Grade (10 classes)
Targeted Skills: Characteristics of Expository Text; Characteristics of Procedural Texts

I started this lesson with a review of fiction vs nonfiction. We then talked about how nonfiction and expository mean the same thing. I even made up a little hand gesture to illustrate this to the kids: "Nonfiction (hold out left hand) and expository (hold out right hand) mean the SAME thing!" (clasp hands together at SAME). This seemed to help the kids understand this difficult concept.

Before reading the book, I showed the kids several nonfiction books from the library that had to do with steps and procedures (how to make bread, glass, peanut butter, Christmas crafts). We talked about what features made these "expository procedural texts" (SO FANCY!)  or basically "how to make stuff books." I then read them How to Teach a Slug to Read, and they showed connection fingers every time a step in the book connected to how they learned to read in their classroom. After reading the book, the kids easily distinguished that this book is fiction "because you can't really teach a slug to read!!" (Silly, Mrs. Bailey!!!) I then asked, so what if we changed the title to How to Teach a KID to read? "Well, then it would be nonfiction because these are the steps for teaching a kid to read. They just changed it to slug to make it funny." Did I mention that I teach geniuses?

Lesson Frame

Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Read to 2nd Grade (5 classes) 
Targeted Skills: Characteristics of Literary Nonfiction; FACT vs Fiction
The more that I read this book, the more that I LOVE it! It is a perfect example of literary nonfiction for younger grades because the kids can easily distinguish the elements of fiction  but understand that this is about a REAL person.I told the students that Jane Goodall is a living person, and this book tells the story of her life as a little girl. It is a quick read, and the last picture is PERFECTION because it is a real photograph of Jane with the chimps in Africa. We had a wonderful discussion about WHY did Patrick McDonnell choose to use a real picture rather than draw Jane like he did in the rest of the book. The theme of this book is wonderful, too. The kids were inspired to dream BIG just like Jane.

 http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/patrickmcdonnell/book-me-jane.html

  The back of the book lists some wonderful resources, as well as a message from Jane. I shared a video from "Roots and Shoots" about why she started this foundation with some of the classes, and they loved seeing that Jane was not only a real famous person, but that she is also still alive! (they were really impressed by this).

 Lesson Frame

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming
Read to 3rd Grade (4 classes)
Targeted Skills: Review Literary Elements of Character; Conflict; and Theme

This is another one on the 2012 Bluebonnet List, and it is a perfect read-aloud for literary elements. Because this is a longer book, I had the kids do a lot of "Turn and Talk" so that they would not have to sit quietly for too long. Lots of great discussion! So many powerful lessons in this book, and I love the theme in the end. One of my faves!

Lesson Frame

 

Scarum Fair by Jessica Swaim 
Read to 4th Grade (4 classes)
Targeted Skills: FUN with poetry; Rhyme, Rhythm, and Figurative Language; Make Inferences

See my blog post from Week 8 for this lesson.








I FINALLY got my Bluebonnet board up!!  This is how I will keep track of which books each class reads!

I need to get going with 6th Grade!

A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis by Matt De La Pena
Read to 6th Grade (1 class)
Targeted Skills: Characteristics of Literary Nonfiction; Elements of poetry (free verse); Schema is CRUCIAL to making Inferences!

This a truly beautiful book in both the words and pictures. (Kadir Nelson can make a bowl of dog food look gorgeous.) I had the honor of meeting Mr. Nelson at the TLA convention a few years ago, and I must say he is my Illustrator Crush. You know you are a nerdy librarian when you say that.

Focus, Mrs. Bailey...Okay. As a I was saying, gorgeous, powerful book that is PERFECT for upper grades. We had a 45 minute discussion on this book because the teacher got so into it and really helped move the kids into higher-level thinking. I LOVE it when that happens! The kids realized how much background knowledge they had to have of Nazi Germany and the racial climate of America during the 1930s to fully understand this book. And the boys LOVED the boxing references. Super cool book for EVERYONE!

Lesson Frame

Week 11

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
Read to 3rd & 4th (6 classes)
Targeted Skills: Discuss the differences between biography and autobiography; Use text evidence to support character traits 

This book has been on my radar for several months, but I saved it to read in November to coincide with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. We started the lesson by discussing the differences between biography and autobiography. I am really trying to use the library cards to call on students rather than the traditional raising hand method. (Confession: With so many names to remember, I find myself only calling on students who I am certain of their names, and honestly, I also call on students who I know will keep the lesson going. This is wrong of me to do.) The library card method is going well and brings equity to my questioning practices, but it does slow down the lesson. Oh well. 

I was pleased that every class easily shared the characteristics of each genre, which all credit goes to the classroom teachers, who are teaching like their hair is on fire to cover our district's extensive curriculum. We made a Venn diagram to show the characteristics: 

 
After reading the first two pages of the book, the students turned and talked about the qualities that they admire in Tony Sarg. This is a great place to stop and make some inferences about his character and use text evidence to support those conclusions. After finishing the book, the students easily determined that it was a biography. We then watched a You Tube video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade so that they could see how Tony Sarg's creativity is still on display. The students truly enjoyed this book, and the illustrations are breathtaking. 

Lesson Frame:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Read to 2nd Grade (5 Classes)
Targeted Skills:Compare two books by the same author; Look for elements of character, plot, and style

Who doesn't love the Mo Willems' Pigeon books? Since my second graders were doing an author study, I thought this was a perfect time for Pigeon because they are quick, fun reads that both kids and librarians love.  Even though most of the kids had read the first one, I started with it as a basis for comparison. We then moved on to the newest in the series and stopped to compare elements of character, plot, and style. The kids were quick to point out that Mo likes to use squares to speed up time, and he also shows the Pigeon's frustration with his trademark squiggle. They also noticed the similar "Pigeon Freak OUT" moment in both books and how Mo uses bold letters, colors, and punctuation to convey the Pigeon's emotions. I found an iPad app called "Don't Let the Pigeon Run this App." It is $4.99 and worth every penny. I did not have time to show the kids the app, but I will use it in the future. It lets the user create their own Pigeon stories, and Mo even shows you how to draw Pigeon. My own daughters LOVE it. If you are a fan of Pigeon, then you MUST let your kids buy this app!

   Lesson Frame

                             

My Pigeon with the help of the App

Bear's Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson
Read to Kinder and 1st Grade (9 classes)
Targeted Skills:  Review Literary elements of plot and character; Make inferences

This is a great book for the primary kids because most of them can connect with the fear/thrill of losing a tooth. Of course, they all wanted to show and tell me about their loose teeth, so once we got over the initial excitement, we moved on with the lesson. They easily reviewed the literary elements, which once again proves that my teachers are rocking it in the classroom. Let me make it very clear that I do not take any of the glory away from the teachers on my campus. I am constantly blown away by their dedication and determination in the face of a very tough year. My reading lessons serve as reinforcement of the skills already taught in the classroom. 

After we read the book, the kids were able to apply the literary elements to the story and identify the events in the beginning, middle, and end.  I also introduced them to the other titles in the Bear series by Karma Wilson.

Lesson Frame

Week 10

Book Fair is gone, but it's still not back to normal

October 2012 will go down in history as "crazy month" for the Shaw Library. This is the third week that we have not been able to go back to our "normal," which is still hectic, but it feels familiar. After Book Fair was packed away, we had a staff development day on Monday. Tuesday was a self-checkout day because Wednesday and Thursday were reserved for the district's mock election to take place in the library. I attended the Plano Library Expo on Friday, so I was off campus and had a sub.

Mr. Ankrum and Dixie Cup

On Tuesday, my assistant principal came to me at 9:51 and said, "What's going on in here at 10:20? We need a place for all of the Kindergarten classes to gather to listen to someone read to them." Since I didn't have a class coming in at that time (just kids coming in randomly in groups of 3 for self-checkout throughout the day), I said, "I'll make that happen!" So I moved all of the tables and chairs out of the way in warp speed (my workout for the day), and voila! 105 kindergarteners marched in to listen to one of our retired assistant principals read The Hallo-wiener with his beloved Dachshund Dixie Cup. I'm still not sure who arranged for him to come, and let me make it clear that this kind of "spur of the moment read-aloud" has never happened before. But I am sharing this with you because I think it proves an important point about librarians: we must be flexible, and we can often be viewed as the heroes when we choose flexibility and adopt an "I'll make that happen" mantra. Tuesday was also my Snapshot Day to collect data for ALA, so I looked at it as that's 105 more bodies to count AND an "event" to include in my data. I am a "glass is always half-full" kind of girl, so I love spinning an inconvenience into a positive. That's just how I roll.

Have you ever seen this many Kindergarteners sitting still?

Wednesday and Thursday were our district's mock election, and sadly, I did not take any pictures because I was busy teaching a mini-lesson on the electoral college and making sure that 18 classes voted each day. I also had the help of our amazing speech therapist, who gave up two days to come help me. I couldn't have done it without her! Teachers signed up to bring their class in for a 15 minute slot of time in which the kids voted for the presidential race on the computers  (I used my 5 desktop Macs that were logged in to the district's Google doc that had been created for this specific purpose by our Social Studies department), and then I showed a School House Rock video about the electoral college and shared how it works (I think I'm an expert now), and I also shared this video from the Ron Clark Academy. Love this!

You can see the district's results of the mock election. This was a wonderful experience, and it went so smoothly because it was a team effort in our district. Librarians worked together to troubleshoot the logistics of getting so many kids into the library to vote; our social studies department shared lessons with the teachers and created the voting website; our teachers objectively taught about each candidate and let the kids decide who to vote for. It was truly democracy in action!

I am itching to read to kids next week! I have missed being a teacher! Librarians must wear many hats, so I included all of these non-read-aloud weeks in the blog to prove this. I can't wait to see these smiling faces next week and get back to our normal routine of enjoying books together.

Week 9: Book Fair!

Book Fair Time!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Book Fair. I love to see my kids get so excited about buying books. I love that most of them actually buy BOOKS and very few only buy what I affectionately call the "cutesy crap" (pencils, pens, finger pointers, etc.).  On the other hand, I hate that it shuts down the library for a week. I hate that I have to become a cashier. I hate that my hands reek of dirty pennies. Every Book Fair confirms that I am NOT cut out for retail!

But love it or hate it, the Book Fair is my bread and butter. It's the only fundraiser for the library, and it makes MONEY. This is my seventh Book Fair as the librarian at Shaw (last year I had three--proof that I have lost my mind), and each Book Fair I make more money. For this one, I was hoping to sell over $5500. We actually sold $6700! I took it all in Scholastic Dollars profit, so I have over $3000 in my Scholastic account to spend on books, furniture, and to use for give-aways and discounts at future Book Fairs. Here are some of my secrets to Book Fair success:

• For every book that my kids buy, they get a ticket to go in a drawing for a free book. I give away 5 free books a day. (I use my Scholastic Dollars to pay for the books). This encourages the kids to buy books instead of the junk. No ticket for a poster or large foam pen that costs the same as a book!
• I give my staff $5.00 off their purchase (taken from Scholastic Dollars). I also give them a ticket for every book that they buy and have a drawing for $50 worth of books for their classroom. I had two winners this time (taken from Scholastic Dollars). 
• I stay open after school and have a night event.
• I finally took pics of my set up so that I can remember where everything goes next time. 

I always have a "Mrs. Bailey's Picks" table.

I encourage parents to buy books for the classroom libraries.

                                         

I tape one of each "junk" item and group them by price. 

I keep all of the little stuff behind the cashier's table. 

Books that come with "trinkets" stay right beside the cashier's table.

Posters hang from the ceiling. Gig Em Aggies!

Spanish titles for my large bi-lingual population.

The T shape table arrangement makes for good traffic flow.

Some of my awesome library helpers 

Love these silly girls! 

And...poof! It's back normal. YEA!